Undercut saw

ABSTRACT

A saw for undercutting door jambs or trim including a saw blade attached to a flange having a first portion attached to the saw blade, a second, offset portion that extends away from a plane defined by the first portion and a third portion that extends away from the second portion in a plane generally parallel with the first portion. The third portion of the flange has a saw attachment portion for use with a general purpose saw.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to saws. More specifically, the inventionrelates to an improved undercut saw blade for a power saw.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When installing solid material flooring, such as tile or hardwood, in anexisting home, it is common that door jambs and door trim will have tobe cut in order to insert the solid material flooring under the doorjamb. This is particularly true when the home previously had carpetinginstalled. This is due to the fact that solid material flooring willshow an unsightly gap if the flooring is butted against a jamb or trimthat extends all of the way down to the subflooring. However,installations having carpeted flooring typically have the jamb and triminstalled all the way down to the subflooring. Therefore, in order toinstall solid material flooring in a home that has previously hadcarpeting installed, it is necessary to cut the jamb and/or trim off ata height above the subflooring roughly equal to the thickness of thesolid material flooring.

In the past, the job of cutting trim and jambs has been done by handbecause common power equipment will not cut parallel to the subflooringat distances very close to the floor, typically because the size of themotor for common power saws is too large. Sawing jambs and trim in placeby hand is time consuming and more physically demanding than would becutting such jambs and trim with power equipment. Removing the jambs andtrim would be even more time consuming and require more physical laborand precise workmanship. Therefore, there is a need for a saw thatallows jambs and trim to be cut in place for solid material flooringwith power equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The presenting invention comprises a saw for undercutting door jambs ortrim. A saw blade is attached to a flange having a first portionattached to the saw blade, a second, offset portion that extends awayfrom a plane defined by the first portion and a third portion thatextends away from the second portion in a plane generally parallel withthe first portion. The third portion of the flange has a saw attachmentportion for use with a general purpose saw motor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a saw according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a saw according to an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of a saw attached to a general purpose saw motoraccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understandingthat the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification ofthe principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broadaspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a saw for ageneral purpose saw motor that allows door jambs and trim to be easilycut parallel and near the subflooring to allow solid material flooringto be placed under said jambs or trim without removing the jambs or trimfrom a wall.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a saw 10 according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention. The saw 10 comprises asaw blade 12 having a plurality of teeth 14 on a first side 16 and asecond side 18 thereof. The saw blade 12 is attached to an offsetattachment flange 20. The flange 20 comprises a first portion 22attached to the saw blade, a second, offset portion 24 that extends awayfrom a plane defined by the first portion 22 and a third portion 26 thatextends away from the second portion 24 in a plane generally parallelwith the first portion 22. The second portion 24 most preferably extendsfrom the first and third portions 22 and 26 at about a ninety degreeangle.

The first portion 22 of the flange 20 defines two bores which align withtwo bores in the saw blade 12. Through the bores, fasteners 28 attachthe first portion 22 of the flange 20 to the saw blade 12. The fasters28 are preferably cap screws with wing nuts attached thereto for easyreplacement of the saw blade 12 when it dulls. The cap screws arepreferably low profile cap screws having short heads so that they willnot scratch or scrape on the subflooring when the saw is used.

The third portion 26 of the flange 20 preferably defines a pocket 30.The third portion 26 further comprises two fasteners 32, preferably capscrews, threaded into hex nuts 34 which have been welded to the thirdportion 26. The fasteners 32 thread through the hex nuts 34 and throughbores 36 which align with the hex nuts 34 and allow entry of thefasteners 32 into the pocket 30. Alternatively, the hex nuts 34 may beeliminated and the bores 36 threaded to receive the cap screws 32. Ageneral purpose saw blade 38 is inserted into the pocket 30 and clampedinto place by tightening the fasteners 32 against the general purposesaw blade 38.

In an alternative embodiment, the fasteners 32, hex nuts 34, pocket 30and saw blade 38 are replaced with a unitary flange 20 and chuck portionformed in the same shape as the portion of the general purpose saw blade38 extending from the pocket. Whether formed by a standard generalpurpose saw blade 38 or a unitary portion of the flange 20, saidattachment to the general purpose saw 40 shall be referred to herein asa saw attachment portion.

In this manner, the general purpose saw blade 38 may be chucked into ageneral purpose saw 40, most preferably a prior art reciprocating saw.By operating the saw 40, the saw blade 12 will reciprocate back andforth and as a result of the offset flange 20 can be used to get veryclose to the floor to undercut door jambs and trim.

While the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described,numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing fromthe spirit of the invention. The scope of protection is only limited bythe scope of the accompanying claims.

1. A saw for undercutting door jambs or trim comprising: a saw bladeattached to a flange, the flange having a first portion attached to thesaw blade, a second, offset portion that extends away from a planedefined by the first portion and a third portion that extends away fromthe second portion in a plane generally parallel with the first portion,the third portion of the flange having a saw attachment portion that canbe chucked to a general purpose saw.
 2. The saw blade of claim 1 whereinthe first portion of the flange is parallel to the saw blade and the sawblade is removably attached to the first portion of the flange.
 3. Thesaw blade of claim 2 wherein the saw blade is removably attached withfasteners.
 4. The saw blade of claim 3 wherein the fasteners are wingnuts and cap screws.
 5. The saw blade of claim 1 wherein the thirdportion of the flange defines a pocket and a pair of bores, fastenersextending through the bores and into the pocket, a general purpose sawblade placed in the pocket and clamped into place within the pocket bythe fasteners.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein the third portion of theflange is formed in the shape of a unitary saw attachment portion forattachment to a standard reciprocating saw.
 7. The device of claim 1wherein the saw blade is trapezoidal.
 8. A saw for undercutting doorjambs or trim comprising: a saw blade attached to a flange, the flangehaving a first portion attached to the saw blade, a second, offsetportion that extends away from a plane defined by the first portion anda third portion that extends away from the second portion in a planegenerally parallel with the first portion, the third portion of theflange having a saw attachment portion for use with a general purposesaw, wherein the third portion of the flange defines a pocket and a pairof bores, fasteners extending through the bores and into the pocket, asaw blade placed in the pocket and clamped into place within the pocketby the fasteners.
 9. The saw blade of claim 8 wherein the first portionof the flange is parallel to the saw blade and the saw blade isremovably attached to the first portion.
 10. The saw blade of claim 9wherein the saw blade is removably attached with fasteners.
 11. The sawblade of claim 10 wherein the fasteners are wing nuts and cap screws.12. The device of claim 8 wherein the saw blade is trapezoidal.
 13. Asaw for undercutting door jambs or trim comprising: a saw blade attachedto a flange, the flange having a first portion attached to the sawblade, a second, offset portion that extends away from a plane definedby the first portion and a third portion that extends away from thesecond portion in a plane generally parallel with the first portion, thethird portion of the flange having a saw attachment portion for use witha general purpose saw, the third portion of the flange defining a pocketand a pair of bores, fasteners extending through the bores and into thepocket, a general purpose saw blade placed in the pocket and clampedinto place within the pocket by the fasteners and the first portion ofthe flange attached parallel to the saw blade and the saw bladeremovably attached to the first portion, the saw blade being removablyattached with fasteners.
 14. The saw blade of claim 13 wherein thefasteners are wing nuts and cap screws.
 15. The device of claim 13wherein the saw blade is trapezoidal.